Bible Studies

THEY SHUT THE DOOR!

by Luella Campbell
01/28/14
Not For Sale
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THEY SHUT THE DOOR!

"At this point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, 'Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to Him. Have the authorities really concluded that He is the Messiah?'" John 7:25, 26 (NIV).

No, they have not! They still intended to kill Him but when He appeared in public, teaching in the temple; they had no reason and no way to arrest Him without discrediting themselves. It appears that the people feared the Jews (John's name for the Jewish religious authorities), and the Jews feared the people!

"'But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where He is from.'" John 7:27 (NIV).

These people thought they knew the origin of Jesus, but did they? He may have been born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth but that was not where He was from. John has already informed his readers that the Word was from God, but these people refused to believe Jesus' testimony about Himself. All the evidence points towards an origin beyond His human birth but because t, they were left with questions that had no answers.

"Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, 'Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but He who sent me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent me.'" John 7:28,29 (NIV).

Such is the power of self-deception that, although His hearers knew deep in their hearts that He was speaking the truth, they refused to acknowledge it. Because they refused to acknowledge Him, their spirits were unable to connect with the Father and to receive the confirmation that Jesus was telling the truth. All their accusations only served to harden their hearts even more and shut them out from "knowing" the Father.

"At this they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come." John 7:30 (NIV).

This is a recurring phrase in John's Gospel. John was acutely aware that Jesus' times were in the Father's hands. He came close to being killed on many occasions during His public ministry but each time Jesus simply walked away unscathed because there was an appointed time for Him to die, and that time was not yet.

How comforting to know that our times, too, are in His hands! Our destiny may not be the same as Jesus' destiny but each of us has our allotted time, already written in God's book (Psalm 139:16), and it is up to us, in obedience to God's ways, to live out our time in order to fulfil our destiny.

Of course we can cut our time short through foolish choices and destructive behaviour, but that is not God's fault. Submission to Him and obedience to His instructions will qualify us to have the physical stamina to complete His plan for our lives.

"Still, many in the crowd believed in Him. They said, 'When the Messiah comes, will He perform more signs than this man?'" John 7: 31 (NIV).

At least there were a few sensible people in the crowd! Their faith may have been superficial at this stage but they were on the right track. Before the end of His life many more would fall by the wayside, offended because they too, like His disciples, refused to pay attention to what He was telling them.

People walked away because He did not live up to their expectations. They shut the door! How unfair is that! But it happens all the time. We put expectations on other people of which they are unaware and which are often beyond their capabilities, and then we are disappointed and we judge them because they were not or did not do what we expected of them. How much better to give people the benefit of the doubt! This is part of the generous spirit which Jesus calls us to show towards people because we are to be mirrors of Him.

One of the reasons why we can be comfortable and safe with the Father is because of His generosity towards us. We can never disappoint Him because He knows us completely. It's up to us to treat others like He treats us.